John phelan



(No Model.)

J. PHELAN.

' RAIL JOINT. No. 512,392. I Patented Jan. 9, 1894.

a IE! llllllllllllllllll l NITED STATES PATENT rFIcE.

JOHN PHELAN, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO RANKINO. NEBINGER, OF SAME PLACE.

RAIL-JOINT,-

SPEGIFIGATTON forming part of Letters Patent No. 512,392, dated January9, 1894. Application filed September 20,1893. Serial No. 485,?)95- (N0model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that 1, JOHN PHELAN, a citizen of the United States, residingat Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joints; and I dodeclare the-following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in that class of rail jointswherein fish plates are employed to hold the contiguous ends together,and it consists of certain improvements in the construction of such'joints whereby the plates are made to grip or bind against the rails moresecurely and thereby effect a better joint; and it also consists of animprovement in devices for holding the nuts of the plate bolts, whichdevices are especially adapted to my improved construction and by whichthe release of the nuts unintentionally is rendered impossible.

Referring to the accompanying drawings for a detailed description of myinvention: Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a completearrangement; Fig. 2, a cross. section on the line oc-a;, of Fig. 1; Fig.3, a cross section on the line i --y, of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a detail viewin perspective of the wedge for holding the nuts. I

The reference'letter (It indicates the contiguous rail ends which railsmay be of any preferred form, although I have here shown them as thestyle usually employed in street railways. Arranged on opposite sides ofthese rails are the fish plates 5 and c, the former b,being of the usualform, while the plate 0, is provided, in addition to the usual flangesd, with the vertical ribs e. These ribs are arranged in pairs and extendfrom the outer side of the plate to a point beyond the edges of theflanges d, and the space occurring between each pair is cast with araised portion therein, thus elevating the plane of the plate at thispoint. Between each pair of ribs e and in the raised portion betweenthem is formed a bolt hole f, through which the bolt g is adapted toextend, its head being arranged on the outer side of the plate I).Fitted on the end of the bolt 9, adjacent to the plate 0, is the usualnot h, which is adapted to be screwed down between the ribs e, and torest loosely on the raised portion between them.

2' indicates a wedge which consists of a substantially fork-shapeddevice tapering to a small thickness at its lower end and having twoarms or prongs 7t, and joined by a body portion Z. Surrounding the bodyof the wedge and extending parallel with the arms 70 down to their lowerends is a fiangem which forms as it extends along the arms an elongatedrecess or passage of a size capable of receiving and holding snugly thenuts h of the bolts 9, while the space or passage between the arms is isof such a size that it will snugly hold the bolt. This wedge is shown inuse in Figs. 1, 2, 8, and 4, of the drawings and there it is passed onebetween each pair of the ribs 6 and resting upon the raised portionbetween the ribs, with the nut h fitting snugly between the parts of theflange m, and the bolt received by the passage between the arms 7t.

As this wedge is driven down the nut is consequently forced out and theplates drawn more tightly together. Formed integral with the plate 0,and just below each pair of ribs 6, is a stationary wedge n, which isarranged so that its smaller end will be received between the arms is ofthe wedge 71, when the latter wedge is placed in position and as saidwedge is driven home the ends of the arms 70 will be forced over thegradually diverging sides 0, of the wedge 12, and thereby cause them tospread and to bind firmly and immovably on said sides. To facilitatethis operation the arms 70 are constructed of spring metal and are givena very strong resistance so that when driven down by the help of ahammer or other driving tool they will bind against their respectivesides with force sufficient to overcome all tendency to be displacedaccidentally. Thus it will be obvious that by this construction acombined nut lock and device for tightening the fish plates is provided,for, owing to the incapability of the wedge 11 from turning between theribs e, the nut cannot be displaced without removing the wedge i, andowing to the tension 4 their operation.

, base plate,

Formed on the lower flanges of the plates 1) and c are the grippers p,which extend downwardly therefrom to a point below the base flanges ofthe rails a,and thence inwardly for a distance equal to about that ofthe vertical portion of the grippers. These grippers are adapted toco-operate with the base plate g, which is located under the base flangeof the rail and has its lower face formed with two laterally inclinedportions 0", one on each side, and extending nearly to the longitudinalcenter of the plate. These inclined portions are adapted to be engagedby the inwardly extending arms of the grippers 19, so that when theplates?) and c are tightened, by the means before described, thegrippers will be drawn inwardly with the plates b and c and cause thebase plate (1 to be forced up against the base flange of the raila, byreason of the grippers acting on the inclined portions 0' of such Bythis construction it will be obvious that a much more secure joint isproduced than ordinarily and that the parts when properly arranged willbe as rigid as possible under any circumstances.

Having thus described my invention, What Iclaim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is'- 1. A rail joint comprising a pair of fishplates arranged one on each side of the contiguous ends of the rails, abolt passing through the rails and plates, a stationary 35 wedge formedintegral with one of the plates and adjacent to the bolt, and afork-shaped removable wedge adapted to pass below and on each side ofthe nut or bolt head and to have the ends of its arms pass on eitherside of the stationary wedge and thereby lock itself and the nut inplace and assist the bolt in its function of binding the plates,substantially as described.

2. A rail joint comprising a pair of fish plates arranged on either sideof the contiguous ends of the rails, a bolt passing through the platesand rail and provided with a nut, a pair of ribs formed on the fishplate upon which the nut rests and on each side of the nut, a stationarywedge formed onthe plate having the ribs and directly under the nut, anda removable forked wedge adapted to pass between the ribs and under andon each side of the nut and to have the lower ends of its arms pass oneon either side of the stationary wedge and thereby lock the wedgeinplace, and prevent the nut from being displaced and assist the bolts intheir functionof binding the plates, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN PI-IELAN.

Witnesses:

THOMAS A. BELL, JOSEPH HARPER.

